care

So my neighbor and I both own cats. He has a big, sweet furry mountain of a cat named Sam, and I have a smaller, soft princess diva cat, named Sophia.

My neighbor and I stumbled upon this amazing idea that we could watch each other’s cats during our respective vacations. (AKA free cat sitting!) He’d check in on my kitty when I was out of town, and I would check on his while he was out of town.

Back in June I went to New York and he got the first go…I only got one text about my kitty when I was gone: “I don’t think your cat likes me. But you do have a really good guard kitty!” Yikes…not what a cat owner wants to hear. I think the world of Sophia, but as far as cats go, she is a little bit high maintenance. She is very picky about who she wants around and loving her has always taken extra work on my part. (It’s okay though because God has given me an endless amount of patience for her. )

Now this week, my neighbor left for his vacation to ride across Iowa on his bike. The first day I cautiously crept into his apartment and looked around for Sam. I had never interacted with Sam one-on-one and didn’t know if he’d be receptive to strangers. I found him hiding under the bathroom sink and reached my hand in to let him sniff me. He did so and then proceeded to rub his head against my fingers.

He’s been very affectionate so far and on this third day I decided to pull him out of the cupboard and settle him into my lap. He purred and purred and purred–so happy to have someone warm to hold him.

Besides me idly considering stealing my neighbor’s cat, this reminded me about something very important that I see with both men and women…Sometimes we are afraid to let someone love us.

My dear Sophia, who I care for very much, is a bit of a fraidy cat. No, it’s okay–I know this. She wouldn’t let my neighbor give her cuddles while I was gone so I know she ended up being extra lonely the five days I was out of town. Now Sam on the other hand, has let down his guard and even though I’m not his person, he’s trusted me to love him to the best of my ability.

How incredibly different would our lives be if we let others in and let them love us when we need them. How incredibly different would our lives be if we let God love us like He says He does? Have you ever struggled with allowing someone to love you? Or do you have someone in your life who has a hard time letting you love them?